Straight, No Chaser with PEter the Swede:

A regular feature intended to cut through the front page bullshit and add a little flava' to the DoF's white northerner stew… ummm, courtesy of a translucent Scandinavian dude whose house practically kisses the Arctic Circle. Yeah, I know. We're working on it.

"Isaias Afwerki VS. Dawit Isaak"

Dawit Isaak is a journalist, a writer and a playwright. He was born October 27th 1964. Twenty nine years later, his country would be declared the state of Eritrea after a long and bloody war for liberation. He came to Sweden as a refugee from the war in 1987. He lived in Lerum, worked as a cleaner and became a Swedish citizen in 1992.

When Eritrea gained independence, Dawit returned to his native country. He got married and had children. Eventually he became a part-owner of the country's first independent newspaper, Setit, where he came to work as a reporter. But the country's independence proved fragile: in 1998, the conflict with Ethiopia unexpectedly flared up again, leading to a devastating border war. Dawit returned to Sweden, preparing to bring his family to safety. His wife and three children followed in April 2000. They settled down in Gothenburg. One year later, Dawit again travelled to Eritrea.

That spring, Asmara was boiling with political activity. The border war had caused an intense political debate. A group of fifteen cabinet members demanded, among other things, democratic reforms and a thorough, objective evalutation of the events leading to the war. In May, when the demands of the fifteen dissidents had not gained a hearing, they put their critique on the internet in an open letter to the PFDJ (People's Front for Democracy and Justice) which is the only legal political entity in Eritrea. The letter was published by the free press, along with analyses, comments and interviews with several of the fifteen politicians. Then, while the international community turned its gaze toward the ruins of World Trade Centre, the government stroke back against the reformists. Within a few days, eleven of the fifteen politicians were arrested, as were ten of the leading journalists from the free press. Including Dawit Isaak, who was taken into custody an early Sunday morning, on 23 september 2001.

Today 2802 days later none of them has been either charged formally or given a fair trial. The journalists, as well as the politicians, have been branded as traitors; the journalists have also been accused of receiving financial aid from abroad - a crime according to the Eritrean press laws.

So far, neither his family nor Swedish authorities nor international human rights organizations have been allowed to visit him. The Eritrean authorities claim that Dawit is an Eritrean citizen only - not a Swedish citizen - and his case thus an internal affair.

The Swedish journalist Donald Boström got an exclusive interview with Isaias Afwerki, the leader of the PFDJ party and the president of Eritrea. see his coments about a journalist that chose to write freely and encouraged others to do the same...

PEter